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links
Links
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Coffee
Review: This site is the online presence of the
wonderful Ken Davids, whose great books gave many people their first
look at the depth of the coffee scene. In addition to reviews of
the most outstanding coffees available, the site is an extraordinary
resource into the growing regions, preparation methods and nomenclature
of the industry.
CoffeeGeek: The CoffeeGeek
website, now boasting in excess of five million readers a month, is a
portal into community-based features including a user-fed library of
consumer brewing equipment reviews (the very best place to start if you
are considering a purchase) and a seemingly endless online forum with
discussions of every topic you can imagine. Use the search
feature to drill down and get answers to your questions.
Espresso My Espresso: This
is fun site, with the main attraction a 97-chapter personal journal
that charts author Randy Glass’ journey from newbie to home roaster to
espresso aficionado and beyond.
Home
Barista: If espresso has seized you and made you want to
know more, this is a great place to start. The equipment reviews
go well beyond performance characteristics of machines and grinders and
help you really understand why good espresso is worth the investment of
time and money. This is also a great resource for learning about
the techniques you need to master to produce great espresso at home.
SCAA: The Specialty Coffee
Association of America. This important trade group represents the
growing sector of the coffee industry that roasts, serves and trades
the highest quality coffees. The site has some great resource
material and outlines the services and events provided by the
association.
ICO: The International
Coffee Organization (ICO) was originally started by the United Nations
as a vehicle for linking coffee producer and consumer countries.
Today, the ICO has a membership of 77 member countries (45 coffee
exporting and 32 importing), and their site is a nice source of high
level statistics and information about the global industry.
Bikes
to Rwanda: The website of an amazing program
launched by the owner of Portland, Oregon’s famous Stumptown Coffee
Roasters that spawned a custom-designed affordable bicycle that enables
Rwandan coffee growers to dramatically improve their ability to move
their coffees from farm to market.
Starbucks Gossip: Imagine
an online forum where
Starbucks employees from far and wide share their candid thoughts (good
and bad) about the company. Its kind of like spying, but there’s
some
fun stuff here to read.
ONLINE DISCUSSION FORUMS
These forums (aka online discussion groups) are organized into broad
categories, and participants then post topics that other participants
in turn respond to. The search feature on each site is a good way
to access what’s been discussed before.
CoffeeGeek You could spend years
here - seriously.
Home
Barista
All things espresso - and oriented to the home user.
Roasters
Guild
A trade guild of
the SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) dedicated to
professional scale coffee roasting.
Barista Guild A trade guild of the SCAA
(Specialty Coffee Association of America) dedicated to the barista
trade.
Coffeed Lots of cool and
very knowledgeable people post to this one. A good place to lurk if
you are a newbie.
PODCASTS
If your daily routine includes a long commute, these podcasts are a
wonderful way to explore the wide world of coffee and get to know some
of the personalities in the business. Both are accessible from their
own home pages (linked here) or via the iTunes store.
CoffeeGeek:
This podcast, hosted by CoffeeGeek founder Mark Prince, provides an
insightful look at coffee from a mostly consumer perspective. By
going
back through the more than sixty available episodes, you can hear
interviews with the baristas, café owners and authorities who
have
taken coffee into the next wave. Use the Libsyn
(coffeegeek.libsyn.com/) link to gain access to older versions of the
show.
Portafilter.Net: The
true insider’s podcast, Portafilter.net is hosted by Murky Coffee’s
(Arlington, VA) Nick Cho (also the ubiquitous host of many barista
competitions) and trusty sidekick Jay Caragay. Even if you don’t
stick
around for the wonderful, in-depth interviews, you’ll have a fun time
hanging out with Nick and Jay – truly the Johnny and Ed of the coffee
world.
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